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Enbridge Pipeline

Enbridge Inc. plans to pipe crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to B.C.’s Port of Kitimat, and ship it in supertankers to Asian markets. More than 200 tankers a year would weave a hazardous path through an obstacle course of narrow, reef-studded channels and inlets of B.C.’s north coast. The vast majority of British Columbians are opposed to oil tanker traffic through the Great Bear Rainforest.

Enbridge Inc. plans to pipe crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to B.C.’s Port of Kitimat, and ship it in supertankers to Asian markets. More than 200 tankers a year would weave a hazardous path through an obstacle course of narrow, reef-studded channels and inlets of B.C.’s north coast. The vast majority of British Columbians are opposed to oil tanker traffic through the Great Bear Rainforest.

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From the Tar Sands to the Great Bear Rainforest

Enbridge Inc. plans to pipe crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to B.C.’s Port of Kitimat, and ship it in supertankers to Asian markets. More than 200 tankers a year – two to three per week – would weave a hazardous path through an obstacle course of narrow, reef-studded channels and inlets of B.C.’s north coast that have already claimed ships like the B.C. ferry Queen of the North. The vast majority of British Columbians are opposed to oil tanker traffic through the Great Bear Rainforest, the largest intact coastal temperate rainforest on the planet. Learn more.

Accidents Happen

A spill from just one of these supertankers could release up to one-half of the oil spilled in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. Spills would be devastating for coastal communities and First Nations that rely on tourism and fishing, as well as for marine and shore creatures like salmon and the rare spirit bear. An accident, triggered by weather, mechanical malfunction or human error, would be only a matter of time.

A Line in the Sand

A diverse alliance of First Nations, environmental groups and municipal governments has drawn a line in the sand: no oil tankers along B.C.’s north coast! In December 2010, Canada’s House of Commons passed a motion calling for a legislated ban on tanker traffic. While not binding, the motion expresses the majority will of Parliament and introduces a moral obligation for the Canadian government to ban oil tanker traffic on B.C.’s north coast.

Who is opposed?

Coastal First Nations (Declaration March 2010)

Many environmental groups including Sierra Club BC

Haida Gwaii Municipalities (June 2010)

Union of BC Municipalities (October 2010)

61 First Nations from the Fraser River Watershed (December 2010)

Liberal, NDP and Bloc Quebecois MPs from across Canada who voted for a legislated tanker ban

Countless grassroots and local citizens’ groups

Take Action

Unless we stop them, hundreds of tankers a year will soon travel through grey whale migratory routes, along Great Bear Rainforest shorelines where foraging spirit bears provide ecotourism opportunities, and among salmon gathering to spawn. Together we can stop them. Please take action now.

On Saturday July 11, Sierra Club BC will be paddling the Peace alongside youth and elders from Treaty 8 First Nations, third-generation Peace Valley farm families, resource industry workers, local government reps, and British Columbians from all over the province.

New information compiled by Sierra Club B.C and our allies reveals that logging company TimberWest has dramatically sped up logging in the Great Bear Rainforest and targeted globally endangered rainforest ecosystems before stricter logging regulations come into effect.

Sierra Club B.C. and the Peace Valley Environment Association issued a news release at the end of last week raising concerns that on April 8, the Provincial Cabinet quietly issued Order 148, removing unspecified lands from the ALR – allegedly to facilitate dam construction.

Treaty 8 First Nations are challenging the Site C dam and changing the game for B.C. communities facing destructive mega-projects. Why is this important for all British Columbians, and how can non-Aboriginal people support Treaty 8 First Nations’ struggle for justice?